18 Inches

18 inches.

That is the length of the journey from our heads to our hearts.  In Tommy Spaulding's latest release, The Heart-Led Leader.

Now that I am in this educational leadership program, the topic of leadership is one I see everywhere. I picked this up because I was intrigued by the tag "How Living and Leading from the Heart Will Change Your Organization and Your Life".  I want to be a great leader and hoped to find some immediately applicable tips.

In the book, Spaulding uses stories of great leaders he's met to describe 18 qualities of a heart-led leader (one for each inch).

All in all, I found the book to be inspiring but a little bit fluffy.  It's certainly good reading for someone who hopes to be a better leader, or for already great leaders looking for some renewed motivation.

***I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.***

What I Learned in October & a Long-Overdue Reading Update

Another month has come and gone!

Today I am linking up with Emily P. Freeman's "What We Learned" series.

Here's some of what I've learned in October.

1. I can do anything for a month.

I just finished my first successful "Write 31 Days" challenge. I didn't write the most beautiful posts, but I set a goal and accomplished it.  I'm hoping this means I can translate it to the next 30 day challenge I've set for myself -- No SPEND November starts tomorrow!

2. My mom knows me well.

She introduced me to my new favorite game app -- Word Bubbles.  She told me I would love it....and I do :)

3. Fitbits can be great accountability tools.

In my September post I mentioned I need accountability in order to be successful, especially when it comes to healthy eating and fitness.  I got a Fitbit about 5 weeks ago and it's really helped me step it up in terms of exercise (pun totally intended).  My favorite feature are the friend challenges - I don't need to win them, but it helps to have encouragement and a little competition.  We're all in this together.

And for what I've read in the past two months:

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
A Million Little Ways: Uncovering the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily Freeman
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
The Heart Led Leader by Tommy Spaulding

Clearly my reading has slowed a bit now that I am in this principal training program, but this still makes 80 books for the year.  

 

 

To Love the Truth Day 31: Truth For All the World

Today is the final day of this series - I can't believe I made it! October has flown by...though at times it seemed to drag on, especially the past week after I ran out of outlined posts.  I'm proud of myself for sticking with this.

For my last post I want to share an element of Truth I've experienced this month.  It's something I've known on an intellectual level and believed for years, but I've now come to understand it in new ways.

The Gospel is for everyone.  Truth is not just universal, it's personal for everyone in the world.  Truth transcends distance and culture and life circumstances.  It has power and the ability to transform all of us.

During this series visits to my blog have increased.  I hoped this would happen -- I mean, I did link up to several other blogs.  What I didn't expect, however, is that the vast majority of my new readers are some other countries.  To those of you who have joined me, thank you.  I hope my rambling has pointed you toward Him.

To Love the Truth Day 30: Sharing the Truth

I'm a witness, not the judge.

A motivational speaker recently visited the school division in which I work, and he repeated this line many times.  It wasn't in reference to the gospel of Truth, but it stuck with me because it fits so well.

For the last thirty days, I've been sharing the Truth not as the judge, but as a witness.  I've presented my experience.  I've told you what I've seen, what I've heard, and how it's changing me.  This is my testimony.

It's a story, not a sermon.
It's an example, not a manual.

This is my story of how the Truth has transformed my life, how I've learned to walk in Truth.

That is how we are to share the Truth with outsiders. Honestly, openly, not apologetically but not judgmentally either.  We are witnesses.  We are to speak as those with personal experience.  It's not head knowledge and an intellectual exercise anymore.  It's a deeply personal story of what's happened to me, and I will tell it softly but with confidence.

I'm His witness....

Thanks for reading my testimony.

To Love the Truth Day 29: Truth in Community

Today's strategy is one I know is important, but I must be honest and say this is a hard one for me to live out.  As I've mentioned a few times on this blog, I have a lot of anxiety surrounding church involvement.  It's hard for me to feel as if I fit in and I tend to keep my relationships with church friends at a surface level.

In order to learn to love the truth and walk in truth, we must surround ourselves with a community that will tell us the truth --a community that will challenge us to live out truth and remind us of truth as a means of comfort.

Daily Bible reading and a personal quiet time are helpful but not sufficient.  In fact, as my pastor pointed out on Sunday, the quiet time phenomenon is a new one.  For most of church history, Bible study has been a communal experience.  We need each other.

It's so important that the New Testament alone uses the word "together" about 100 times.

Do not give up meeting together...

Raise your voices together...

Strive together...

Work together for the truth...

And this, the example of the early church:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is why we are to do this thing together: so that others will see and hear the truth and be saved.

It's not just beneficial to unbelievers, however.  There is great value for those who are already saved.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 

It's in community that we are able to speak the truth to each other.  When we heed those words and learn from them we will grow to become mature in Christ. We will not become deceived but will be confident that we know the truth....together.

To Love the Truth Day 28: Truthtellers

If you've read my blog for any length of time you probably know I'm a reader.  I love to read...so much that my mom once grounded me from reading for a week.  She even took away the cereal box!

In addition to reading the Bible, I've found many authors who speak the Truth into my life.  It's helpful to hear the way the Truth has changed others' lives.

Here are some of my favorite truthtellers and a few recommended works.

Beth Moore - Breaking Free, So Long Insecurity

Jen Hatmaker - Interrupted, For the Love

Angie Smith - Chasing God

Tim Keller - The Reason for God, Jesus the King, The Prodigal God

Lauren Winner - Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crises

Ravi Zacharias - Recapture the Wonder, Jesus Among Other Gods



All of these books can be found on Amazon and other sellers.  Find them. Read them. Hear and respond to Truth.

To Love the Truth Day 27: Adoration

The very first book I read in 2015 set a great tone for my year, as I learn to love the Truth.  Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty is beautiful and challenging -- she speaks of Truth in the midst of hardship -- tasting the goodness of God in all things.  I highly recommend the book, but it's not what I want to share today.

On Sara's blog and Instagram pages she shares what she calls "Adorations" every day.  These adorations are a result of years of her daily Bible study method.  Simply put, she reads the Truth and then translates it back to praise.  She describes it as "inhaling His word and exhaling praise."  She publishes these meditations a month in advance.

I've started practicing these adorations in my own Bible reading.  This year I'm trying to read the whole Bible in a year, and I find that some books are harder to connect with than others (minor prophets, I'm looking at you).  Now I try to find a characteristic of God within the passage and praise Him for who He is.  Reasons to adore Him are everywhere.

Take today's reading for example.  I read Jeremiah 31 and found four adorations that I recorded in my journal.

God is my Husband.
God is my father.
God is my Shepherd.
God is my Comforter.

Four Truths that are worthy of praise.

To Love the Truth Day 26: Walking in Truth

Day 26 of 31 and I'm still going strong! I really can't believe it.

For the last week of this series I want to start looking at practical ways of walking in Truth.  How do we fill our lives with Truth? How do we learn to love it? How do we keep Truth at the forefront of our minds?

Here's one that I've found recently for those of you on Instagram.  It's an account called 100 Days with Jesus - each day she shares a Name or attribute of Jesus with a short devotional about what the name or the attribute means.  The words come in alphabetical order and we are counting down to Christmas day.

While this doesn't replace my daily Bible reading, it is a nice way to have a reminder of Truth right there on my Instagram feed in the midst of browsing.  The posts give me pause to reflect on who He is for a while.

Here are a few that have spoken to me recently:
Guardian of My Soul
Healer
Hope of Glory
Intercessor

The more I surround myself with Truth, the more the opportunity I have see, hear, and live it.

To Love the Truth Day 25: Sunday Song

Dennis Jernigan may not be a familiar name to most, but he was the most-played artist in my house growing up.  He is arguably one of the greatest Truthtellers I've found, and his songs of ministry do just that: he sings the Truth over us.

This song is my all-time favorite.  Hear the words of the Father today.

To Love the Truth Day 24: I Belong

Today I'm sharing some truth that I struggle to believe.  I accept that it is true, but often feel like it's not proving true for me.  And I often wonder how different my life would be if I fully embraced this truth and walked in it daily.  That's the goal...to love the truth....to be found walking in the truth.

I'm turning 30 in a matter of months. My mom had four kids by the time she was 30, and while I never had a specific goal of matching her on that front, I always expected that I would be married with children by now.  The reality is that I don't even have any friendships with single men right now.  I am quite lonely and while I do not mourn my singleness, I do want to be a wife and mother more than anything and I worry that it's never going to happen.

The hardest part of all this is that during the week I'm not bothered.  I may be single but it makes no difference at work. I am a leader in my workplace.  I am successful and respected.  I am on my way to being a school principal.

But then we get to Sunday and suddenly there's no hiding. I'm alone. I'm a single woman in the church....and so there must be something wrong with me.  Suddenly I feel like I'm no longer a legitimate adult....that I'm demoted to the bench or the JV squad....that's there's nothing that I can help with.

The lies come hard and fast on Sundays.  They say I'm a second-class citizen.  They tell me I still need to sit at the kids' table.  They tell me I have no place in the body...that I will never belong until I have a husband and family.

Why do I feel this way in the one place I should never question my worth?

And so on Sundays I have to tell myself the truth: I am a daughter of the King. I am loved. I am his workmanship -- his masterpiece -- his handiwork -- created to do good works that God prepared and dreamed up before I was born.  Not only do I have a place and a seat at this table, I have a purpose.  There is a role for me that no one else can fill.  Maybe I haven't discovered it yet but that doens't mean that it doesn't exist.

I belong.  I belong to Him.  I am a treasured part of this family.  And one day I will believe and live it.

To Love the Truth Day 23: Psalm 103

Today I just want to share a psalm that brings me to tears whenever I read it.  This truth is so beautiful I don't even need to comment.  Truth speaks for itself today.

Psalm 103

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits --

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The Lord works righteousness 

and justice for the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse, 

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed, 

he remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord's love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children's children --

with those who keep his covenant 

and remembers to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding, 

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

To Love the Truth Day 22: He Restores

Today's truth is another that is precious to me.  It goes along well with what I shared yesterday.

God likes us. He delights in us. We are precious to Him.

So He doesn't just tolerate us and roll His eyes at the mention of our names.  He doesn't get annoyed by our prayers and requests.  He gives us so much more than our salvation and he doesn't do it begrudgingly.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."

Our God is a God of restoration.  He brings wholeness to every area of our lives.  He doesn't leave us in the rubble in which He finds us.  He returns what's been taken and lost.  Wrong is made right.  Things are brought back to the state He intended.

His promise is this: "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten....never again will my people be shamed."

And this, one of my favorite verses since the summer of 2005.

Isaiah 51:3

The Lord will surely comfort Zion

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;

he will make her deserts like Eden, 

her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness will be found in her, 

thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

My God is in the business of making piles of ruin into a glorious garden, full of life and beauty.

To Love the Truth Day 21: He Delights in Me

A lot of times before we can love the truth and walk in truth, we must acknowledge and confront the lies we so often believe.  Lies we think are the truth.  Lies that can easily destroy.

Here's one lie I believed for a long time: God doesn't like me.

Sure, He loves me.  Sure, He sent His Son to die for me.  But like me? Not a chance.  Somehow I was sure that He barely tolerated me.  That I annoyed Him.  That when I asked Him for something, He'd roll His eyes and say, "For crying out loud, Allison! I already gave you eternal life! Would you shut up and quit whining and leave me alone?"

I tiptoed around Him for years....desperate to make myself more lovable but with every year feeling more and more ugly and undesirable.

Enough is enough.  There have even been days in the last month that I've started living according to that lie.

And so I must tell myself the Truth over and over.

Psalm 18:19 "He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me"

He delights in me.  He doesn't tolerate me.  He doesn't "just" love me.  He delights in me.

Let's define that word, shall we?  To delight is to please someone greatly. I please Him greatly?!?!  To delight is to take pleasure in.  I bring Him pleasure.  Synonyms include: to charm, to enchant, to captivate, to thrill....

Can it be?  I charm Him. He finds me charming.  He's captivated by me.  I thrill Him.  He finds me enchanting.

Wow.

This truth is sometimes almost too wonderful to even believe.  The King of the Universe, the Creator of all things is wowed by ME.

Surely I am precious.  "You like me! You really like me!"

If I believe His words are truth, these words must be also.

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

I bring Him great joy.  He smiles when He thinks of me.  And He thinks of me often.

Oh, to live every day as if I loved the whole Truth!

To Love the Truth Day 20: He is Good

God is good. A simple statement but a truth worth repeating over and over.  Sometimes it takes a while to believe it.

He is good.....all the times.
He is good.....in all things.
He is good.....in all he does.
He is good.....in His love.
He is good.....when there is nothing good in me.
He is good.....and is enough.
He is good.....to me.
He is good.....forever.


“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

He is a good Father.

I heard this song earlier this month and found the words so comforting....Truth worth repeating when it's hard to believe.

You're a good, good Father

It's who You are, It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am, It's who I am

To Love the Truth Day 19: I have nothing to fear

I am a worrier at heart. I find myself thinking about all the things that could go wrong and play "what would happen if" scenarios in my head all the time.  I suppose you could reframe it and say I am always prepared, but the root of my worry is fear.  What if I can't handle this? What if I find myself alone? What if God can't even handle this?

The Truth is that as a daughter of the King, I have nothing to fear.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?....No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Take a look at that list again.  It includes everything we could possibly fear.  Paul says in all these things, we do not have to fear because God's love is bigger and stronger.  We live in His love.  And John tells us, "There is no fear in love."

We have nothing left to fear.

Even death.  Death plants us even more securely in His love because suddenly we are with Him and see Him forever.

Paul went so far to call death a rescue -- something to be welcomed, not dreaded.

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom."

And so we remain, in His love, with Him as our refuge, with nothing to fear.

To Love the Truth Day 18: Sunday Song

Today's song echoes many of the truths I've talked about this week.  Nichole Nordeman has been one of my favorite singer/songwriters since high school and her new EP did not disappoint.  She is, in my mind, a truthteller.

Happy Sunday!  Here is "Name"

To Love the Truth Day 17: Deeply Loved

I'm giving myself some grace today and making this one short.  

Truth for today: We are deeply loved by the Father.

Meditate on these words from Spurgeon today.

"Did you ever consider the depth of love in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped His Son for the great enterprise of mercy? If not, make this your day's meditation. The Father sent Him!"

To Love the Truth Day 16: He is my Advocate

Well Day 16 is a day late. I spent most of yesterday traveling and crawled into bed the minute I got home.  This 31 days in a row thing is every bit as difficult as I thought.

I owe much of what I am going to write today to the work of Kelly Minter.  I went through her "What Love Is" study this summer on 1, 2, 3 John and learned so much.  

I John 2:1-2 "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sings, and no only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

We have one who speaks to the Father in our defense -- Jesus Christ!  Jesus is our advocate.  

As a school counselor, I know a little bit about what it means to be an advocate. My primary role is to serve as an advocate for my students -- to fight for them in places where they cannot fight for themselves. I have access to resources they could never find on their own and my job title has legitimacy that makes people listen to me even if they wouldn't listen to a child. Though it doesn't always mean everything works out perfectly, I have a great deal of power. I can make things happen in situations where no one else could.

Jesus is our advocate to the Father.  The one who pleads our case in the heavens -- who argues for our defense -- when we have no way to speak up for ourselves in a meaningful way.

Kelly Minter lists four primary qualities of an advocate:
1) Holds a position that I do not
2) Has power that I do not
3) Is granted access to people that I do not have 
4) Has great influence

The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-merciful Savior of the world is our Advocate before the Father.  Rest in that truth today, friends.

To Love the Truth Day 15: I am Rich

This is not about money.  When I say I am rich, I am talking about so much more than wealth. And not at all about wealth.  To echo what Jen Hatmaker wrote so wisely in For the Love, if the Christian "Truth" you're presented with isn't true for the homeless single mother in Haiti, IT ISN'T TRUE.

And if the Christian homeless single mother in Haiti is rich in Christ, it has nothing to do with money.

John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Jesus came to give us abundant life -- a rich life!

"The Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him." Romans 10:12

So what is this rich blessing?  Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to  be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will -- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption though his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us."

I am a child of the King. The God of all riches.  And he blesses me richly - with life, peace, hope, joy, family....

We are richly blessed.

I'm going to end today with the lyrics to a song I've had on repeat for a while.

Everything is Mine in You

Everything is mine in You 
Even when my heart is breaking 
Everything is mine in You 
Even when my hands are empty 
Everything is mine in You 
Oh, in You 
Everything is mine in You 
I can trust You with my longing 
Everything is mine in You 
Even though the road is lonely 
Everything is mine in You 
Oh, in You 
‘Cause You are, master over all 
And You say, You are my inheritance 
And in You, I have everything I need 
And You are, seated in the heavenlies 
And You say, forever You’re my hiding place 
And in You, I have everything I need 
Everything is mine in You 
And I know my future’s bright 
Everything is mine in You 
Past or present, death and life 
Everything is mine in You 
Oh, in You 
Against all hope 
Help me hope 
Against all fear 
Draw me near 
Against all hope 
I will hope 
Against all fear 
I will draw near 
I am drawing near to You, Lord.

To Love the Truth Day 14: Blameless

Blameless.  Let's talk about this word for a moment.  If you google the definition you will see this: "innocent of wrongdoing."

Synonyms include - faultless, guiltless, above reproach, unimpeachable, exemplary, flawless.

When I think of someone who is blameless, I think of a classroom of students.  Someone has taken something from the teacher's desk but the teacher isn't sure who.  She narrows the list of possible suspects to five.  Four of those five are not guilty, but they've done enough other questionable things to be considered in line with their character.  The other students in the room are blameless.  She dismisses them as ones who would never have done it...above reproach, not at all sketch.  She wouldn't even consider blaming them.  

1 Corinthians 1:8 - He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:25-27 - ...Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Because of Jesus, God declares us blameless.  He calls us innocent.

The word choice is powerful.  Many times in a court of law, defendants are declared "not guilty" because there is not enough evidence to convict, or reasonable doubt.  Many people are found not guilty as a technicality though the public may be generally convinced of their guilt.  "Not guilty" and "innocent" are not the same thing.

Innocence goes a step beyond.  Not only does God say we aren't being found guilty and saddled with the consequences, He says we are blameless.  We did not do it.  We are flawless.   There is no doubt.

Truth to Love Today: He's made me blameless.  He will keep me blameless.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

To Love the Truth Day 13: Fully Known

One Sunday about four years I ago I visited a church here in Lexington for the first time.  The service wasn't all that memorable -- not terrible, not awesome.  We sang songs I liked and I guess it was a good sermon.  All in all, it was a typical church service for me.  I came, I sat alone, no one talked to me, and I was all set to leave as quickly as possible.

Out of nowhere the church's pastor appeared at my side. He introduced himself and shook my hand, and then looked directly at me. "I noticed you during my sermon today, and I just need to tell you that God sees you.  He sees you."  

I awkwardly said thank you and quickly bolted for the door so he wouldn't see the tears that had begun to trickle down my face.  

I am seen.  He sees me.  

The Hebrew word raah is found thousands of times in the Old Testament and carries several different meanings.  Translated simply as "too see", it also means to watch, to observe, to perceive, to inspect, to examine, to understand, or to know.  To see requires a great deal of attention, passion, intensity.  To truly see something requires effort.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good" becomes "Experience and fully know the goodness of the Lord."  Simple vision doesn't begin to cover the depth of this word.

Similarly, to raah see can seem both positive and negative.  The very idea that God sees me can cause me to want to run both toward and away from him at the same time.  

One of the first verses I ever memorized was this: "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)  

He sees everything.  It is both a comfort and a threat.  Often when the Lord speaks in the prophets, He tells His people that He sees them -- and it's in an accusatory way.  He has seen their sins.  He knows their wickedness.  They can run but they can't hide.  Judgment is coming.

And then, He changes His tone.  He sees them.  He sees their shame.  He sees the devastation their sins have caused.  He sees their suffering and He rises to show them compassion.  

He sees.  He knows.  In fact, one of His names even comes from raah.  His name is El Roi: The God Who Sees Me (in a good way).

Paul echoes this idea in I Corinthians 13: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

One day we will see and understand Him the way fully sees and understands us.

Truth to love today: 
I am seen and I am known by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

To Love the Truth Day 12: No Longer a Slave

I just can't get that song out of my head:
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God

We are no longer slaves - to sin, to death, to fear - to anything or anyone.  We are sons and daughters of the God who set us free.

Hebrews 2:14-15 "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

John 8:34-36 "Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.'"

Romans 8:14-17 "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ."

Galatians 4:7 "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."

You are no longer a slave. You are a child of God. God's heir. Everything that's His is yours. Forever.

And that's a Truth to love today.

To Love the Truth Day 11: Sunday Song

I have had this song on repeat since I first heard it months ago.  It speaks for itself.

Have a wonderful Sunday. 

No Longer Slaves // Bethel Music

I am surrounded by the arms of the Father

I am surrounded by songs of deliverance

We've been liberated from our bondage

We're the sons and the daughters....

You split the sea so I could walk right through it

You drown my fears in perfect love

You rescued me and I will stand and sing

I am a child of God

To Love The Truth Day 10: Our Future Home

Yesterday I shared some of the truth about our new condition once we've believed in Christ for our salvation.  Today I'll be talking about what our salvation says about the truth of our future.  

It is bright, y'all.

We got a hint of it a few days ago in Romans: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Life.  Eternal Life.

Many have written far more eloquently than I possibly could about what this never-ending life after death. I don't know what this home will look like or what exactly we will do, but I am certain of a few things.

1) Jesus is there and we will see Him.

John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

2) It will be the fulfillment of everything we've ever hoped for.

Revelation 7:16-17 "Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

3) Jesus will be there and that is enough.

2 Corinthian 5:6-8 "Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, no by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

Well I don't know if there are harps in heaven

Or the process for earning your wings

And I don't know of bright lights at the end of tunnels

Or any of these things

But I know to be absent from this body

Is to be present with the Lord

And from what I know of Him, that must be very good.

(Sara Groves)

Haste thee on from grace to glory

Armed by faith and winged by prayer

Heaven's eternal days before thee

God's own hand shall guide us there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission

Soon shall end thy pilgrim days

Hope shall change to glad fruition

Faith to sight and prayer to praise.

And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

To Love the Truth Day 9: Our New Condition

Now that we've chosen to believe the Truth, we must learn the effects of this Truth.  I guess you might say the gospel is the ultimate Truth and once we believe it, a whole new set of truths are opened to us.  The Bible is full of promises and assurances that are just for believers -- those who love the truth.

I couldn't possibly share them all with you today, but I will share a few right now and more throughout the rest of the month.  

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"

Romans 8:14 "Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

1 Corinthians 6:11 "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Galatians 3:14 "He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."


I am new. I no longer face the condemnation and punishment I deserve. I am free because of Jesus. I am a child of God. I've been washed, sanctified, justified -- declaring righteous and daily becoming more like Him. I have his Spirit living, leading, guiding me in His Truth.

To Love the Truth Day 8: So What?

Given this very great Truth -- Jesus came to us, for us, died and rose again -- what are we supposed to do?  We've heard the Truth.  We understand the Truth.  We know what the Truth is.  

Now we must believe the Truth.  To believe it is to love it.  

Romans 10:9-10 -- "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

(A quick sidebar: if it's starting to feel like the only book of the Bible I'm familiar with is Romans, it's sort of true. It just so happens that my Read the Bible in a year plan has me in Romans the first half of October.  It's been helpful.)

Once we've been told the Truth, we are to believe it.  And once we believe it, we are saved. Forgiven. Redeemed.  

So simple and yet so hard.


For me, it's often easier to believe this big Truth than the "smaller" ones that come as a result.  I know God loves me and gave His Son's life for me, but I doubt that He actually likes me.  It's that kind of thing that we will spend the rest of the month savoring.


(and yes, it is October 9 and I am writing Day 8. I forgot yesterday until I was already in bed. now to write #9)

To Love the Truth Day 7: But God

Today I begin right where I left off yesterday.  You see, if we look again at some of the verses I posted yesterday, we find just what I promised we would...a big BUT. The biggest BUT of all time.  A life-changing BUT! (Ok, ok, I'll stop)

Romans 3:23--"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Romans 6:23 -- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God saw our wretched state, the prison of our own making, and sent His Son to set things right. Jesus came and walked in the same broken world we live in, felt the same fears, experienced the same hurts, and faced the same obstacles.  He tasted the full measure of our humanity, but responded differently than every one of us.  He never sinned.  He lived the type of life we'd all say was worthy of "good karma", or eternal blessing.  But instead of receiving the glory due Him, Jesus was crucified on a cross -- the most humiliating and tortuous death.  This was our punishment that He bore.  God's wrath for us on him.  And then he died.  Not at all the ending He deserved.

Romans 5:8 -- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

He died and was dead three days.  BUT (this is the biggest of all the buts) on the morning of the third day He rose from the dead.  He reigns in life and invites us to share in His reward.

Romans 5:17 -- "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."



So now what? I will tell you tomorrow.